Mayawati govt to face CBI probe in health scam

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the state government why the CBI shouldn't be asked to investigate the alleged scam and told it to file the reply on July 25.

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Piyush Srivastava

Lucknow

July 19, 2011

UPDATED: July 19, 2011 10:34 IST

The Uttar Pradesh government is likely to face the CBI heat in connection with the NRHM scam and the subsequent murder of deputy CMO Dr Y. S. Sachan.

Dr. Y.S. Sachan was found dead in the jail premises.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the state government why the CBI shouldn't be asked to investigate the alleged scam and told it to file the reply on July 25.

Though the court had, on July 14, ordered a CBI inquiry into Sachan's killing. His family had pleaded the probe would be meaningless unless it was juxtaposed to the NRHM scam. It is believed that the Rs 1,000-crore scam has led to the murder of two CMOs in the family welfare department - Dr V. K. Arya in October 2010 and Dr B. P. Singh in April 2011 - before Sachan was killed in jail on June 10 this year.

Justifying the family's demand, Sachan's wife Malti said: "I believe my husband was killed because of the NRHM scam, in which many ministers of the Mayawati government are involved. After parking crores of rupees elsewhere, these politicians ordered the killing of the two CMOs and my husband to derail the investigation. So the murder case cannot be solved without getting to the root of the scam and identifying the actual beneficiaries of the corruption."

Sachan, arrested on April 7 in connection with the NRHM scam, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in an under-construction bathroom of the jail. Chief judicial magistrate Rajesh Upadhyay, who conducted a judicial probe into the incident, categorically stated that Sachan had been murdered. Earlier, the state government had blamed Sachan for hiring professional killers to eliminate the two CMOs.

"They were killed by professionals when they tried to probe the NRHM scam, which had been committed by Sachan," cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh had said.

The family's counsel, Prince Lenin, told the bench - comprising justices Pradeep Kant and Ritu Raj Awasthi - that even the cabinet secretary had admitted the reason for all three murders was the NRHM scam. Since the state agencies could not be expected to question their political masters, he said only the CBI should be entrusted with the investigation.

"Sachan's murder case has been handed over to the CBI, but the scam has wider repercussions. The money involved was allocated to the state by the Centre. Instead of spending it wisely, the government embezzled it and deprived the people of health services. It also led to the murder of two CMOs and a deputy CMO. The state government has recognised the scam. It was the apparent reason for Sachan's arrest. The police have also arrested Dr A. K. Shukla, the health department CMO, for his involvement in the same scam," Lenin told the court.

"Our point is that most senior officers are involved in the scam. Chief minister Mayawati had also removed two senior cabinet colleagues, family welfare minister Babu Singh Kushwaha and health minister Anant Kumar Mishra, on moral grounds after the murder of the second CMO. There are obvious indications that they are involved in a series of crimes which culminated with the murder of Sachan. This is the reason I am requesting the court to these cases together," Lenin pleaded.